Stars of BBC show Top Gear were in Northern Ireland yesterday for their latest madcap stunt — firing a car at the Stena HSS in Belfast.

Television crews were at Clarendon Dock where Jeremy Clarkson spent the day filming for the new series of the popular car show.

Yesterday’s stunt involved firing a Renault Twingo runabout at the back of the Stena HSS.

The car containing a dummy was launched off the docks, hurtling through the air before crashing into the water below.

A spokesman for the show refused to give any details, stating: “Viewers will have to tune in to the next series to see what happens.”

The new series has already hit the headlines after presenter James May escaped unhurt when an airship he was travelling in crash-landed in a field.

May was filming a stunt in which a caravan was attached to the bright orange airship and flown across Cambridgeshire.

It was meant to land on a cricket pitch in the picturesque village of Eltisley, but was blown off course by strong winds and crashed on its side near trees and hedges in a farmer's field half-a-mile away.